A former executive at a casino in Pennsylvania was recently sentenced to jail for 32 months. He worked at the Mohegan Sun Pocono Casino and was involved in a scam that involved slot machines and casino loyalty rewards. The scam was run for almost a year, with the perpetrators making nearly $500 000. 
Mohegan Sun Exec Works with Two Accomplices
The man in question, Mr Robert Pellegrini, was employed by the Mohegan Sun Pocono as the VP of Player Development. He and his two accomplices devised a plan to make some extra money by stealing player’s Loyalty card PIN numbers and playing the slot machines for free. They would then be able to keep the winnings and split it amongst the three of them. It is reported that the scheme lasted for nearly a year, running from May 2014 until April 2015. Pellegrini worked with a cocktail waitress, named Rochelle Poszeluznyj, who was tasked with recording the PIN numbers for customer’s loyalty cards when she served drinks. She would then give this information to Pellegrini who would make a duplicate of the card and load free slot money onto it. He would then hand the cards to a third accomplice, Joseph Heltzel. He would then go and use the cards to play slot machines. Heltzel had actually been caught cheating at Blackjack but wasn’t banned from the casino for some reason. The group apparently used $478 100 worth of free slot money to win themselves nearly $420 000, which was split between them.
All Three Plead Guilty
The trio was caught after a dealer at the casino exposed the scheme to the police. He did so because he was in love with the waitress and viewed Pellegrini as a rival for her affections. Pellegrini pleaded guilty and said during the trial that he is a flawed man and did this to make money to pay his gambling debts, as he is a problem gambler. He was sentenced to 32 months in jail and has to pay $478 350 in restitutions to his former employer. The other two also pleaded guilty. However, they will be sentenced at a later date.
